The Price of Power
by Psudocode Samurai
Summary: Pain. This was all that was known in his world. The constant suffering brought on by one within. Yet one thing will come to be known to him, with this great price, a great reward will follow. Naruto/Harem, good fem-orochi, fem-Juugo. Biotic Naruto.


Disclaimer: I dont own anything to do with Naruto, Star Wars, Mass Effect, whatever you want the powers to fit as...

AN: Alrighty, until I can get this housing shit sorted I can only write some new things, this being one of them. If you've talked to me for a bit then you likely have heard me mention that I've been wanting to do a force Naruto one for a while, but after playing through Mass Effect 2 again (And one...I'm a bioware fan boy) I got this idea, considering that the biotics descriptions were of nodules of element zero settling into the body while in the womb/shortly thereafter, then it opened up ideas for Naruto doing something similar. Now Naruto will be rather strong early on, some like this others dont, but considering who will be 'raising him' I think it will be fitting, and he will still have his down times and weaknesses, so no worries there ^_^

Shout out to my bud AvalonNakamura for acting as a sounding board for this, and for helping me with the title for the story ^_^ go check him out.

* * *

The Price of Power  
Chapter 1

* * *

"Report!"

He seemed to move like a storm, sweeping into the room and setting everyone there, save one, on edge as his robes billowed around him. At once the medical staff parted to the far walls, giving their village leader a form of privacy with their head researcher.

The last, one with distinctive, yellow eyes, just looked at him with affection. "Sensei...things could certainly be going better..."

The new arrival, one with robes that seemed to be too large for his size locked his eyes on the little blond boy on the medical bed. "What's happening to him?"

The tall, pale skinned woman absently moved some of the hair from the boy's face, her eyes softening slightly before they hardened once more. "As you know sensei, young Naruto has been plagued with headaches from birth, at first we thought it was a byproduct of the sealing...and in a way you could say we were right..."

"So it was the seal? How long will this be a problem, the boy can hardly function as it is..."

The sannin could only let out a heavy sigh, at times she really hated his job. Sure, she could be callus at times, hell, she knew she was, but she never liked to see suffering for one so young. "Yes...and no...it's not the seal, so much as what it holds..." The woman, one with long black hair, stepped to a board that had been wheeled into the lab. They had learned long ago not to keep Naruto with the normal hospital wings, both for the safety of himself, and to ease the pain of the other patients.

It was hardly good for patients to have a constantly screaming child nearby.

"As you well know, Minato-sama's seal was designed to slowly siphon off the Kyuubi's chakra and make it Naruto's, eventually killing the fox...However, it seems that the fox itself had become aware of this fact, and is taking steps..."

Sarutobi could one flinch at the thought, that that _thing_ could be trying to corrupt the Fourth's son..."What's it doing to him?"

"That wasn't the eas-"

"Damnit Orochimaru! _TELL ME!_"

The yellow eyed sannin shrank back under her sensei's gaze, "S-Sir...It seems to be focusing and channeling it's chakra through him purposely...now normally this won't be a serious issue, as the seal's own filters would compensate and redirect the chakra through his system, and let it dilute out into the rest of his chakra. However, the fox has found a way around this..." With a flip of a switch a wall mounted light box lit up, followed quickly by a set of x-rays, "As you can see, the new chakra scanner that Hyuuga helped me develop paints a grim picture..." Sarutobi stepped closer, taking not of the oddly human shaped blue 'skeleton'

One that wasn't totally blue.

A large, central mass of royal blue chakra rested at his belly, but deeper, at its core, was blood red sphere, one that had several small tendrils snaking out of it, running like threads throughout his network.

However, it was his tenketsu that seemed to stand out, the points, that should be only a pinprick in size, looking closer to the size of his little fingertip.

Far, _far_ too large for anyone.

"Clearly outlined here is Naruto's still developing chakra network. As you can see, there are several, severe problems here, namely in his chakra points. In addition to being almost five hundred percent larger than they should be, at their core each one is holding a mass of the fox's chakra. As you can see, the ones closer to his chakra core are showing a greater concentration of the red chakra. From what we can tell the fox has been focusing and condensing it's chakra into nodules, each one the size of a few blood cells, but so dense they have no chance of dissipating before they reach his tenketsu."

"So the chakra's been building...but to what end?"

"That's what we're still trying to determine...each pellet, once there, combines with the others and slowly enhances the size. I can only speculate as to the purpose...but my hypothesis is that it's trying to find a way to move slowly out. Think of a dam, if you let all the water out at once, then it destroys everything, including the dam. But if you let it out slowly..."

"Then the people are none the wiser...except that this is causing Naruto extreme pain."

"Correct. From what we can tell of the seal arrays, those that are in place to keep the fox from influencing him, are also keeping it from experiencing what he is. If I had to guess, I'd say that it believes it's plan is going perfectly with us going about our peaceful lives...Fortunately you have one of the very best seal masters in the world here...however despite all this, there is something more pressing that I think you should see..."

At this prompt two of his lab assistants wheeled in a small television, quickly connecting the needed equipment before hitting play. Instantly this very room appeared, showing Naruto in a fitful sleep, the elderly leader flinching at the pain the boy was in even while he rested. "This is something I've seen be-"

on the screen the door opened, Orochimaru's young apprentice, only five years older than Naruto, entered, a small tray in hand. Quickly the violet haired girl moved across the room, carefully placing what looked to be a bowl of rice porridge and a glass of water at his bedside. Almost at once the little girl turned and made to leave, but at the last moment stopped and sat at his bedside, taking his hand into hers in an attempt to calm him. "F-Forgive me sensei, the tape was supposed to be queued up to the proper place..."

The old man chuckled before waving off his student, "Don't worry about it Orochimaru, honestly it's nice to see someone close to Naruto's age with him...the boy does have his problems with the villagers..."

With Orochimaru facing the monitor Sarutobi was unable to see the pained look that flashed in her eyes, for she was no stranger to the cruelties that the oh so noble villagers could bring to bear.

It wasn't easy for a young girl who looked the way she did. Only two of the many clans in Konoha wouldn't comment, those being the Inuzuka and the Aburame, something she was quite thankful for.

Yet for young Naruto, he didn't even have that many. It didn't help that he would randomly scream and collapse in pain, though with a bit of luck, she could fix that quite soon. Finally getting the tape to the right spot she stopped it. "There, now watch carefully..."

Sarutobi got closer, trying to note any differences in the images he was seeing. At first there was nothing, just the simple room without Anko. Naruto, once more in a fitful sleep.

And the tray.

after a few moment the older man was about to pull back, when he spotted it.

A ever so slight...shimmer, for the lack of a better term, had ghosted around Naruto's body, an odd glow of purple-ish light.

One that was soon matched by one forming around the bowl of porridge.

The bowl began to rattle.

Then slide closer to the boy.

Before it suddenly was flung across the room. only just missing the boy's head, before shattering and waking him, his surprised yelp enough to cause the nurses to rush into the room.

Sarutobi could only blink in shock. Then wound the tape back and watched it again, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

No...the bowl had flown across the room.

"W-What was that..."

The snake sannin could only sigh, absently brushing a strand of hair behind one ear, "Honestly, we don't have any idea. It's clearly chakra based, as you can tell. We even had a member of the police force come in and examine the phenomena. His sharingan painted quite the picture. It seems that Naruto's chakra had actually arced from point to point, seemingly acting in relay and...amplifying as it moved. That was the initial shimmer. Afterwards, it seems that this chakra coalesced and acted as an attractant to the bowl...why the rest of the tray didn't come with it is beyond us, but in truth that's the tamest of the questions we have sensei."

"He was hungry...his body knew that, and with him smelling the food, his chakra acted."

"Sensei?"

"It's not so hard to understand, his body acted on its own to sustain itself, much like a conditioned response in a martial artist. Now tell me, how often does this happen?"

"This is the only documented case, however it would explain some of those 'confirmed' incidents at the market. What worries me is that this power is only growing, and if it is instinctual..."

"How long before it lashes out at someone giving him a dirty look, or a bully in the orphanage..."

"Indeed."

"Recommendations?"

That gave Orochimaru pause, until they knew more there really wasn't anything that they _could_ do. "As of right now, nothing. I'm looking into the development of a seal array that could help, but it's in its infancy at the moment. Other than that, meditations and focus. As you are well aware of, Naruto can't attend the academy due to the pain he's in, so this may be a good way to get him a start on training. If he can tap into, and learn to regulate, his chakra then that would be an excellent start."

The Professor pulled off his hat to run a hand over his smooth head, absently wondering if it was this motion that caused him to lose his hair... "This seal array...how long would it take you to develop?"

The younger woman arched an eyebrow at him, "Ideally?"

"If I were to give you everything you would ever need...how long?"

Her eyes lit up for a moment before getting lost in thought, "As you know, it's all highly experimental...but if I had unlimited resources...maybe two years..."

His eyes widened in shock, "That long!"

Orochimaru sent a glare her sensei's way, "You have no idea what kind of seal we would have to develop. This isn't something as simple as a suppression seal, or something to break up those nodes, I don't know anyone that has the skill in seals that can break up and disperse that kind of power, not without destroying the tenketsu utterly. No, what I'm proposing is a way of regulating it, evening it out, before putting a new filtration seal matrix on top of the existing seal. The problem is, it would have to be overlaid directly onto his chakra paths...we would be combining surgery, sealing, chakra therapy and mental/emotional training in one. And without someone like the Yondaime here, or his wife...well it's a monumental undertaking. Almost as much trial as derived information."

Sarutobi fell into a chair heavily next to his young charge, lost deep in thought. finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the woman, he spoke. "What are the risks to Naruto..."

Orochimaru smiled.

* * *

All things in life are relative.

This is something that can be hard to understand for some.

At its heart this simply means that you can only say how hungry to are when compared to how hungry you have ever been. Similarly other feelings or comments apply.

Pain, for example, falls into this category. If you've never broken a bone, then you can't relate to that kind of pain. Never given birth, it's a whole new world. Torture?

It's all applicable, and all relative.

So for a young child like Naruto, who had been suffering for all his life, this new pain, the recovery from surgery, was just a drop in the bucket.

It had been a strange time for him, while not his first time in the hospital, he normally wasn't in this wing, unless he was forced to stay here for an extended time. Still, his time with the strangely pale woman was rather pleasant, as was his encounters with her apprentice, who was strangely hyper all the time.

When they had initially told him that he was going to be going under the knife he was scared. Who wouldn't be? She was explaining to him that, in essence, if he didn't do this then at the very least his pain would grow by the day, at the most he would die, in a rather horrific way at that.

He had no choice.

In the end he had spent almost seven years with them, learning how to access his chakra, how to meditate, how to focus and keep a handle on his emotions.

He had also learned about the reason behind his pain, and the betrayal he had felt that day had become something of legend around the hospital and ANBU. For when it had all finally sunk in he had simply snapped.

* * *

"W-What do you mean…it's not dead…"

"Naruto…you must understand…the Kyuubi was far too strong to be simply killed, or sealed into a jar or pot…it needed something more…"

"Like what?"

The elderly leader absently wiped a hand over a sweat soaked brow, this was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do, tell a boy the reason that he was universally hated, but also that he was the savior of the village…

How would he take that?

How would _anyone_ take that…

"It's me…isn't it?" the old man's eyes widened, "That's why they call me names…why they throw things…why the matron always locks me in a closet and says it's for the safety of the others…"

Sarutobi knew he had someone to fire today…if not worse…

"But if I didn't know…how do they?"

And Sarutobi thought he was sweating before… "Because Naruto, after the chaos of that battle I announ-"

Dropping to his knees Naruto let out a roar of pain, the likes of which would haunt the old leader's soul until the end of his days, the fact that the one man he had trusted in the world had known, yet had never told him...it hurt in ways that the Hokage doubted he would ever be able to forget...but to then be the _cause_ of that suffering…

What had come with that rage was seared into the Hokage's mind, and those that had been with him that day.

For when Naruto cried out his new abilities had activated as well, fueled by his anger and driving it to new heights. Naruto had wanted to lash out, wanted anyone he could lock onto to pay. It was only dumb luck that had saved Sarutobi that day, for Orochimaru had pulled him out of the room just as the youth's eyes had found him, those normally kind, though pained eyes now alight with raw power, arcs of the odd purple energy dancing around his body as both hands shot forward.

The entire west side of the building was simply gone, the rubble reduced to dust as those violet aura's churned and boiled, before lifting, separating and almost atomizing the wall.

One thing was clear, they had to be careful never to get on Naruto's bad side...

* * *

After that they had stepped up his training, spending many long hours in simple meditation, it was just as well, he couldn't do anything else while recovering from the surgery, something he found out he never would have survived if not for the fox...

Yet he wouldn't have needed it if he didn't have the nine tailed hairball either.

He wasn't really sure how he should feel about that, what he did know however, was that he had known some of the most peaceful nights of sleep he had ever experienced since the first round of surgeries were over, those only meant to take care of his legs for now.

He was told from the start this would take time, something he was sad about, but at the same time he was happy to even _be_ helped. It had taken three years to even get the seal developed, apparently there were some things that Orochimaru had needed that the Third couldn't, or wouldn't, provide. After that it had taken two more years just to get matrices laid out in a way that could ensure that he would survive the application, no small thing...

Now the surgery was complete, and he could walk again, he had to keep pushing, so that he could be ready for the next leg of what others had called 'hell for the child'.

He could only laugh at the thought, the sound far to bitter for a ten year old.

They had no idea what hell was like...

* * *

Five more years...long yeas that that had Naruto drawing further way from him, and closer to Orochimaru, and while he could understand it, it didn't make him any happier...he missed the little lunches he would have with the blond, even though most of those had to be brought to him. Time had healed the wounds of his heart somewhat, though Naruto still wouldn't trust him.

He knew why, the blond still felt that the man was hiding things from him, and he would be right. He just wasn't sure if the boy could handle another blow like he had been given on that day...

"And your certain that everything's been taken care of...that his powers are stable?"

The woman absently tucked a strand of long hair behind her ear, "As stable as can be expected...he can control them if that's what you mean, at least to an extent...but this is a power that if fueled by his emotions, one that is still evolving...and is only limited by the power of his imagination, not unlike genjutsu..."

The man could only flinch, "That's...disturbing..."

She arched an eyebrow, "Is it sensei? Shouldn't it be something we should be happy about? So long as you can ensure his loyalty the-"

He let out a sigh, "That's the problem...I fear I've already done too much damage to the boy by keeping secrets from him..."

"Sensei..."

"I only wanted him to be safe..."

"You may not want to hear this sensei...but..."

"I know...the road to hell is paved with good intentions..."

She gave a mirthless laugh before stepping up beside the old man, one who was looking out the window over the village, wondering when it had all gone wrong for him. "While that is true, that wasn't what I was going to say..." He looked up at her with a raised brow of his own. "He's a teenager who's angry...He thinks that his grandfather is hiding everything from him...so prove him wrong. After the demonstration at the academy then you can tell him the whole truth...he deserves as much don't you think?"

That caught him off guard, "He's really that powerful?"

The woman just rolled her eyes, "You remember what he did to that wall? That was before the training even started...now such a feat is laughable..."

"Easier I trust?"

"You doubt my, or Anko's, training?"

That made the man laugh, "Oh my..."

She gave a small, hiss like giggle, "That, sensei, is an understatement. Though you shouldn't be to alarmed, they've been good for each other...and for me, if I'm being honest..."

Sarutobi pated the younger woman's hand gently, "Are you still thinking about that...project of yours?"

She snorted, "No...not after what I saw with Naruto...no, I've learned now that great power has a cost...I don't want to think what it may do to my mind if I went that far...No, the research into the seals has been put forward in a way that can only help the village, Anko herself bears the prototype you know?"

That surprised him to no end, she would never use something like that unless she had perfected it. Honestly it was one reason he cared for the woman like she was his own daughter, he was known as The Professor, the God of Shinobi, so if there was one thing he could respect, and indeed prefer, it was those that sought perfection.

"What of those that you've found in your travels?"

The taller, still young looking woman, paused to gather her thoughts, "They are progressing…perhaps not as fast as I would like, but I'm not going to rush my trials with the seals just for results. Anko's seal was created specifically for her, and I will have to tailor more of them for the others before I can help there…I only with Tsunade was here…she would be able to help with some of the illnesses that they possess…though Inoichi has helped greatly with Juugo, she could still be invaluable with Kimimaro and the expertise in trauma shouldn't be ignored…"

He let out a heavy sigh, "I've told you before Orochi-chan, we've spoken with her, she's just not willing to come back…"

That made the sannin's eyes narrow, "If she is not willing, then she is no longer a ninja of our village, thus a missing n-"

"_Don't, _just…just don't…you know what all she's been through…"

The woman sneered at her teacher, something she hadn't done since before the war, "You make it sound like she's the only one that has lost things in life! Your stronger than this Hiruzen! Far stronger than she is…yet you are accepting _no_ from one of your ninja!"

"S-She just needs more time…"

The fire didn't dim for a moment for the sannin, "She's had _twenty years_, if she's not over it now then she'll never be. Have you considered that maybe what she _needs_ is to feel needed again? To be of use?"

"I…Maybe your right…you always could see to the heart of things…but you know she really doesn't care for you…"

That caused a mirthless chuckle from the woman, "She's just pissed that I have somehow maintained my good looks….unlike her…"

"You still haven't figured that one out yet, have you?"

"My parents died before I could really find out anything, you know that…for all I know I've got some Uzumaki in me…"

That made the duo laugh, and for one blond teen who was currently helping his rather constant companion in her work, it caused a sneeze.

* * *

"Come on maggots! If you can't even get the flag from a kid that's not in the academy then how could you ever think you could be chunin!"

Three panting teens could only scowl up at their sensei, "Screw you bitch! That 'kid' could grind us to dust in seconds! What the _fuck_ do you think we could do to him!"

The 'kid' in question was just lazily playing with some leaves that were drifting through the air, an odd burst of off purple light causing the bits of plant to hang in the air as though weightless. It had been a long road for Naruto. The surgeries, when it came to his torso and head had been the hardest to recover from. For almost six months he could only take shallow breaths, and even had to have someone else bathe him, something that mortified him to no end…then again, when your bather happened to be one of the loveliest, if not scariest, women in the village then it was something he could deal with. Though a part of him felt that Orochi-chan had taken a bit too long at times… "Hey, it's not my fault you three suck. You should be coming at me like she does, then maybe you could scratch me."

"You know Naruto-kun…it's hardly fare to think that we could amount to sensei…"

"Oh, Kimimaro speaks! You must be getting desperate! He's going to try and 'logic' and 'duity' me to death…pussy…"

"Naruto-kun…"

"Hey, you let Tayuya talk like that, yet you get onto me?"

"_Naruto-kun…"_

"Besides, they still haven't tried the simplest way of beating me yet…"

The normally quiet, almost stoic final member of the team finally stepped forward, to loom over the blond teen, said boy arching an eyebrow, "Can I help you Juugo-chan?"

The orange haired teen, one who normally had a rather serene look to her, now bore a small frown, the girl's hand blurring for a moment before revealing it showed all the leaves he had been playing with, "Please be serious Naruto-kun…"

He let out a huff of air before the same purple energy surrounded him, and with a flick of his finger he was moving through the air, the field having reduced his mass to next to nothing, and letting even that little bit of force right him, "You all want me to be serious…"

Three genin started sweating.

"I can be serious…"

Now they started to shrink back.

"I'm fucking great at 'serious'!"

Then a fist connected with the back of his head…and given that his field was still active it sent him flying like an arrow across the training ground, only his wickedly sharp mind kept him from plowing into the far tree line, "NARUTO! Chill out! They only want you to stop playing with them!"

As Naruto settled to the ground once more he turned almost murderous eyes onto Anko, "Oh? I thought that's what I was going to do…"

She had to fight the urge to flinch, at times the Naruto she knew and loved would fade…leaving her with this overly serious teen, something she knew she had her master to blame for. "N-Naruto, calm down…"

His features formed a small smirk, "Calm? I'm very calm…It's you all that seem so…tense…"

"Naruto…"

"Naruto-kun…"

"Shithead…"

"Naruto-kun…"

"So tell me guys…why so serious…"

That made the four pale.

And caused a certain blond let out a bark of laughter, "Heh, You guys are sure jumpy…thought you were all supposed to be the big bad ninja…while I'm just a cute little civi…" Four ninja were now twitching, the act happening a split second before the genin charged, Anko having enough presence of mind to know that the blond was just doing his best to piss them off.

Though with Juugo…that may have been a mistake.

"Ah! So now their getting serious…maybe now they'll get him…"

Juugo was the first to arrive, hot on her heels Kimimaro followed, the larger woman's skin starting to darken even as a great fist was drawn back, from each of the knuckles a set of long, dull grey spikes formed. Even as this was happening Kimimaro had grasped the suddenly apparent bone protrusion from his elbow, giving it a sharp yank it came free, showing a long bone sword already rising to hopefully gut the boy.

It was all a blur to most, Juugo's anger fueled charge coupled with Kimimaro's unnatural speed was enough to almost make Lee envious, but against one who could simply think and undo them…

A purple shimmer appeared around the blonds' hand, one that rose at the same speed as the blade.

A suddenly increasing speed, the field lowering the mass of his weapon, and even arm, making the blow come that much faster, even as Juugo's hand sudden felt it's weight amplified by almost eight times it's norm.

Bone sword met fist, biting deeply into the woman's hand, even as the blade shattered. Though the weight of her hand hadn't left at all, pulling the larger woman down on top of her teammate and making the duo skid rather painfully across the clearing even as Naruto spun out of the way with a flourish "Oley!"

Then he heard the flute, and almost at once dropped to his knees, the oddly haunting melody making his bones feel like they were grinding together even as the world around him began to warp. "Tayuya...chan…low…blow…"

The woman had to fight the urge to smirk, while the other members of her team may be far stronger than her, she was still the only one that could drop him so easily…at least until…

Yep, there it was…

The air around Naruto seemed to pulse for a moment, that same purple energy filling the area.

A falling leaf halted, but not due to a lack of weight.

This one stopped dead, because the density of the air had changed, stopping it it's path.

Much like it had stopped her sound.

"Naughty-naughty…"

Tayuya suddenly found her flute snatched from her lips even as she was lifted into the air, her body rag-dolling as the weight fluctuated, "S-Stop! I'm gunna hurl!"

He gave another laugh before setting her on the ground gently, quickly dissipating the field on Juugo before moving to face them all, the group looking more annoyed at their failing than anything. "You still haven't tried the easiest way yet…"

Kimimaro and Tayuya's eyes narrowed in range before, to their shock, Juugo stood and began to slowly walk towards the blond, her skin returning to its normally creamy pink even as she cradled her rapidly healing hand, "Naruto-kun…"

"Yes, Juugo-chan?"

"May I have the flag please?"

The blond smirked, "How can I say no to a pretty girl asking so nicely?" The remaining group could only watch with loose jaws as Naruto calmly untied the little bandana from his arm and wrapped the girl's damaged hand, "Sorry about your wound…you alright?"

"I will be fine…"

While he couldn't see it, as she turned back to her team quickly, her teammates surely did notice the blush on her cheeks. It was a closely guarded secret among the group, one they fought desperately to keep from Naruto, that the spiky haired woman had a horrible crush on the teen.

Ever since she had flown into one of her rages, and it had been him that kept her from hurting his friends and her new home, she felt grateful, and tended to try and spend more time with him, at first as a procession just in case she lost control again, but that need slowly turned into affection, and now a rather severe crush.

She wasn't the only one that had grown fond of the boy, though she was probably the only one that would admit to such a thing…

"Naruto…why did you give them the flag?"

He just gave Anko a lazy smile, "She asked nicely…it never hurts to ask…"

"But that's not what they needed to do, they had to work together and get the flag!"

He just waved her off almost absently, "Ya, ya, and they did, but they still weren't enough to get past me."

"You could have toned it down you know…"

Naruto could only grumble, "You know I've tried, but if I'm attacked it just becomes instinctual…and when it kicks in like that I lose control, I don't want to hurt them…"

She could only let out an annoyed sigh, she knew that was the case with him, but at the same time if he didn't keep trying to repress it then he would never get better at controlling it. However, he seemed to thrive on the feel of that power, and what it allowed him to do.

She let out a heavy sigh before throwing her hands up in the air, "Fine! Whatever! You all win! Were done here, get the hell out! Naruto, you have to rest up to for once, you have your test in the morning."

"Right, I'll pass, no problem…then maybe we'll all get to go on missions together."

"Feh…Like we need your help Shithead…"

"Says the girl doing D-Ranks…"

That caused a bout of cursing that had them all covering their ears, and one blond running with a maniacal laugh.

* * *

AN2: Well, here is the first offering, let me know what you all think ^_^


End file.
